Still Holding On
by veronica.toon.7
Summary: Set after LK2: The prides are united and peace has come to the Pridelands once more. Kovu and Vitani then set off to the place where there brother died to give him a proper burial and funeral. Will they be able to tell there brother how much they loved him in time? Read to find out!


**Another Lion King short story. Sort of a sequel to 'Remember and never forget.' This one about Vitani and Kovu visiting Nuka's grave and reflecting how he was there brother and how they should have treated him better.**

**I do not own The Lion King or any of its characters. They all belong to Disney. I do not own the cover image. It is called "****Remembering" by spiritwolf77 on devianart. All rights go to them.**

**Enjoy the story!**

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The Outlanders and the Pridelanders were united at long last. After years of feuding, fighting, and suffering losses from each other, they both have made peace with each other. The Circle of Life is completed at last. But there is yet something that needs to be done to make me and my sister, Vitani, feel at peace.

We head near the gorge where the ambush of Simba took place. Here my brother was crushed by logs and exhaled his last breath. His body is still covered in the logs, untouched by scavengers. We go to the place where his body lays to give him a proper burial.

We reach the gorge where the battle took place. It is now during sunset. We passed the charred remains of the grasslands where fire ravaged the land, devouring everything in its path. Only a few growing stalks of new plants grow up from the ashes here and there.

As we then reach the slope heading down towards the deep indentation in the earth, Vitani and I quickly leap down the rocky sides and land on all fours. We then followed the trail of slightly faded paw prints and claw markings on the ground till we reached the log slide. We jump over a few of them, pushing down a few as we ascend.

Vitani and I then spot the head of our late brother. We head towards him and begin pushing back logs in order to free his limp, dead body from the trap. We finish in no time and stop to look at our brother.

His scraggly body is littered with cuts and bruises from the logs. His unkempt, underdeveloped, black mane is dusty and messy. His eyelids cover his once striking red eyes. His face is expressionless, limp, and pale. He was never the most good-looking lion in the pride, nor the strongest, fastest, smartest, or maturest, but he was our brother. And now he's gone. Gone without either of us saying 'goodbye' or 'I love you' one last time.

He was never treated right while he was still alive. Mother would always focus her attention on my training and Vitani's too. Nuka was always the outcast of the pride. Always being neglected, always being ignored. He always strive to get our mother's attention, always trying to make her proud, always trying go make himself seem like something of worth in her eyes.

The other members of the pride were no better than mother, or us. they would give Nuka the scraps of the meals, even so that was barely enough to feed a cub, much less an adult lion. For that reason, he was so skinny and underdeveloped that his ribs stuck out of his chest. He was like a living skeleton.

His quest to be loved and given attention by mother eventually grew to insanity. He was so driven to gain his mother's attention that he tried to finish Simba off by himself. Unfortunately, Simba escaped and pushed several logs down on Nuka, thus burying him under them and snapping his spine. I had tried to pull him out but mother knocked me out of the way to get to my brother.

She found him barely alive, struggling to breath and coughing up dust. He barely made out his words. He said _"I'm s-sorry mother, I t-tried."_ His last words showed how much he had tried to please her, but always coming up short to her expectations. He died with mom's paw holding his face. His breath was one jagged exhale before he went to sleep, never to awaken again.

We never did have a proper burial set out for him. Mother was so enraged with vengeance that she clawed my face and went directly to finish off Simba. His body just lay there, broken and neglected. Now that mother has gone and the prides united, we can finally tend to the task at paw.

My sister and I lightly take Nuka's body in our mouths and drag him out of the log pile. The ground beneath our feet is too rocky and hard to bury him there, so we plan to bury him nearby.

We carry it towards the remains of the chard grassland. The ash leaves the indents of our paws and slightly sticks to our pads. We then choose a spot where the land is mostly clear, no charred remains of tree and/or stumps, no burned twigs, no large piles of soot and ash to clear away. Just a spot where the ground is perfectly horizontal and here are no emerging shoots to disturb growth.

Vitani and I set Nuka's body down lightly on the ground and select the spot where we should start digging. We unsheathe our claws and start scratching the earth below. After the soot is cleared comes the black earth. It is crunchy, thick, and hard to clear away. My claws start to hurt as we tear it up from the earth. Under it the bottom soil it is hard and the occasional rock is in the way. We continue to clear away until we have a hole big enough for a grave.

I jump out of the hole we made and lend a paw to help Vitani out. Nuka's body is next. I take the scruff off his neck in my mouth and Vitani starts moving his posterior. A few feet away the hole is. Nuka's body is moved quickly over and placed gently in the hole in the earth. We each take one last look at our brother before we go away. Vitani and I then start to go to work refilling the grave.

We kick up large quantities of the soil that was dug up by us back into the hole. By the time we are done the grave is filled in no time. We pat down the dirt and so it looks smooth. Vitani and I then bow our head over the grave, each of us sending prayers to Nuka.

I then start us off.

_Dear Kings and Queens of the Past,_

_Please watch over our brother. Help him become strong and fit, no longer weak and underdeveloped. Let him find his way up to heaven, to become one of the stars __we see that shine down on us. His blood comes from that of royals, son of King Scar and Queen Zira, grandson of King Ahadi and Queen Uru, great-grandson to King __Mohatu, and descendant of the first King. Let him join them as a new, bright star, brilliant and mended. No longer restricted by his earth bound body, let his spirit __rise __among them. Take care of our brother, Great Kings and Queens of the Past. Let him know how much we love him and how his two younger siblings, his brother __and __sister, miss him more than anything and honor him by planting this grave in his honor. __Please, Great Rulers of the Past, let him know. Please._

We have begun to weep tears for our brother. Our heads our bowed so that our tears flow down our face and water the grave, hoping that an undisturbed seed will awaken from the tears and go forth into bloom, marking our brother's grave.

We turn our head up into the sky, hoping that we can see our brother's star appear. But the sky is filled with the other stars of lion's deceased. Our brother's star cannot be found. We begin crying once more.

A mist starts to flow into the vicinity that we are in. Before we know it, it has become a full blown fog in no time. It is so thick that if Vitani and I weren't standing right next to each other then we would have not seen that we were right by.

Then from inside the fog a figure appears. We both have to squint to see it. It rises up from the grave and takes form. A body appears with four legs sticking out of it. Its head comes into shape with distinguishing features and a long mane. Its Nuka! The great Kings and Queens of the Past have heard our prayer. He has been mended in heaven.

His fur is no longer termite-infested and coarse but now is smooth and glossy. His mane, that was once small and pathetic, is now long and billowing. His body is muscular and healthy now. He smiles at us.

_"Hey squirts. I love you too, you little termites,"_ the ghost says, using the nicknames he gave both of us.

He then turns to leave and disappears, leaving no trail of the dewdrop and gossamer ghost. The mist around us evaporates. Below on the grave, a little green plant is beginning to sprout from under the soil. From above it a new star twinkles above, glowing white with a lighter blue rim. It shines brightly in the night, outshining the other stars of this part of the atmosphere.

We smile as is shines down its ethereal, brilliant light on us. We feel content knowing Nuka is in a better place now. Shining down on the Pridelands below, a brand new star in the heavens.

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**Very little dialogue, I know. I'm more adept to doing descriptive stories. I hope you enjoyed this, reviews are very appreciated. Sincerely, v.t.7**


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